“House of Cards” star Robin Wright says Netflix has done three jobs and earned the same $500,000 salary per $500,000 as Costar Kevin Spacey

Actress Robin Wright may be the on-screen icon for her role Forest Gump, Princess’s Bride, and Wonder Woman. But when you take on the leading role of Netflix’s hit TV series Card Houseshe had to take on two additional jobs: production and director, in order to earn the same money as her male co-star Kevin Spacey.

“It was tough, I’d be honest,” she said. Variety in Recent interviews. When they said, “I think it’s fair because my character has become as popular as (Spacey’s),” they said, “We can’t pay you the same as the actors, so we can make you an executive producer and you can direct it.”

“I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?” “Because I didn’t win an Academy Award.”

Wright played beloved character Claire Underwood in the series between 2013 and 2018, and was nominated for three Golden Globes and six Primetime Emmy Awards for her role, while the other two Emmys produced Chops.

However, despite solidifying himself as a fan favorite and essential protagonist Card House Show, she had to go up to secure a salary close to reporting $500,000 per episode of Spacey I’ll pay Claire’s husband, Frank Underwood;

Fighting for equal wages in Hollywood

Wage discrimination has long been wreaking havoc for Hollywood. The actress had to do the same job and fight against teeth and claws to achieve the salary the actor was awarded.

“It’s been a protocol for many years. It’s just for nothing,” Wright said.

“If you say, ‘Why didn’t women get the same amount as Will Smith?” They say, ‘It’s going to increase after you win.’ Nominations, not that much.

Spacey made nearly 500,000 to star in each episode of House of Cards, Despite the unstable conflicts at work. In 2024, the 65-year-old actor had to pay a $1 million settlement Excessive accusations He sexually harassed a young male staff member on set.

Wright has been willing to hold back on wages that are much lower than Spacey’s wages for a long time. Once she realized that her character was just as popular as her co-stars, she used the fact in her pay negotiations. By 2015, it seemed Wright’s strategy was beginning to pay off, as the actress reported. I got caught up in $5.5 million salary, equivalent to Spacey salary. Wright, whether by chance or not, had won the Golden Globe for an outstanding actress in the previous year’s TV drama.

“I said, ‘You better pay me, I’m going to make it public,'” Wright said. New York Times in 2016 Interview. “And they did.”

Netflix did not respond luckRequest a comment.

Other successful women speak out at equal pay

Women from all industries, from Wall Street to Hollywood, are fighting the same battle. Founders of Titan and Elves on Wall Street Sally Claw Check He is particularly frank about women’s wage discrimination.

“We made progress, but that progress has been stuck,” Crowcheck said. Business Insider between 2016 Interview. “I think one of the final or last legs of feminism is that we are financially equal to men, and we are not equal to men until we are financially equal to men.”

Like Wright, actress Gillian Anderson also had to fight for her money. As a star of Fox’s hit series X-Files In the 1990s, she said that co-star David Ducobney was less than what he was paid for. When the network chose to revive science fiction television shows in 2015, the issue of wage discrimination once again grew heads. Half provided That of her male counterpart. sauce I said Hollywood Reporter Anderson and her co-stars eventually brought back equal pay for the series.

“Even in interviews over the last few years, people told me, ‘I can’t believe it happened, how did you feel about it, it’s insane,” Anderson said. Daily Beast in Interview from 2016. “And my reaction was always, ‘It was now, this was now.’ And it happened again!